Ephemera's story: Undeserved BloodRayne spinoff
by VampiressClaudia
Summary: A little story about Ephemera and how she came to be.
1. Chapter 1

**Undeserved**

I feel trapped.

If I had a breath he would have taken that away from me as well. I hate him. I hate being around him, hate living with him, hate following him. And I hate her for leaving me. But there's no use asking if the water is clean if there's nothing else to drink. Huh, water. One drop of it feels like dying. I sit and wonder which fate is worse: death or captivity? Then I look up and realize there's only one way to survive this. I'm going to destroy him, and no one will ever know. He took everything away, he left me without options. He brought this on himself.

I am left without options.

I feel trapped.

Swirls of darkness surround her, embrace her and obey her. But it was a long journey for it. She remembered how it happened the first time: she was about 8 years-old. The offspring of a woman and a demon.

She had run into the kitchen where her mother was cooking and hugged her. Of course, she couldn't reach her mother's arms so she hugged her legs instead.

"Mommy I made some friends."

"Really, darling?" The woman looked down and then lifted her up in her arms. "Where are these friends?" She asked giving her daughter a small kiss on the cheek.

"There!" The little girl with black hair pointed at the most shadowy corner of the room.

Her mother hesitated.

"But, darling, there's no one there."

"No, they're really there! Look." She fidgeted in her mother's arms, meaning she wanted to be put down. As soon as her toes touched the floor she ran to the corner and stood there for a second with her back turned.

"Darling? What are you doing there?"

"Look!" She turned around and held her hands clamped together as if the had something in them. Her mother approached and crouched near her. The little girl opened her hands but there was nothing there. Not even shadows.

"No! They're really here. Oh, please show yourselves!" Tears were starting to swell up in her eyes.

"Oh, darling, come here." Her mother said and comforted her in her arms.


	2. Chapter 2

The shadows started whispering again. They told the tale of a sick man who had the power to kill and spread his disease. The women he touched had become infected and now they will give birth to other sick children. He dreamed of making the whole world in his image and to place himself on the throne of this corrupted new world.

She listened to them, but was not afraid, she was more scared of the stories her mother told her that involved ogres and dragons than of diseased men. She had never been sick in her life so she couldn't understand.

But, the stories were just the beginning. She started dreaming of them, of falling into an abyss of darkness, of shadows coming alive and devouring the light. But, still she was not afraid. For some reason this blackness comforted her, it wasn't as warm as her mother's hug, it was as if she had a friend. This strange coldness that followed her everywhere she went.

At first she couldn't make out the words they were saying, just a rhythm of several voices. But then when she finally listened clearly she heard them: "he's coming for you."

Days had past and the whispers became louder and more frequent. Dread voices some brittle as old parchment some sharp as a banshees cry. She wondered if they only follow her or if other people hear them as well. After she had told her mother about them, they advised her not to do that again, but instead to listen to them. To the strange incorporeal murmurs that grew louder when she was in her room, the one with the blocked windows.

One night the whispers told her to try to put out the only candle in the room. She got up, but they the stopped her and said she had to try to do it from where she was standing. The little girl frowned, but started blowing hard. The small gust of her breath only made the flame flutter. She heard them laugh. It was the first time they had done something mean. But she heard them whispering again, telling her to reach out with her arm and point it at the flame. They told her to imagine how the flame will be extinguished by the shadows.

Slowly this little girl stretched her arm and waited, but nothing happened. She heard them laugh again.

"Shut up." She barely said and pointed her finger at the flame. This time she felt a coldness sweeping from her fingers, like a soft wind escaping her grasp and the candle went out. The entire room went dark. Dark like she had never seen it before. Her mother always left a few candles lit, or the door ajar for a little light to come in, but this time the blackness was complete. But, again she was not afraid, for, even though she couldn't see, she knew where everything in the room was and she knew she wasn't alone.

"Well done." She had never heard them so loud before and this time there weren't several voices, there was only one. As if all the other voices had been concentrated into one.

Then the darkness screamed. All the murmurs cried at the same time, some uttering profanities, some laughing at her. But all of them frightened her. She screamed as well, but she couldn't hear her voice over the others', she wondered if she had screamed at all, or if her dreams of falling into the abyss had turned into nightmares and become real.

The door burst open and as soon as the light invaded the room the voices cried in despair and then went dead. Her mother rushed to her and held her close.

"It's okay darling, I'm here. I'm here. It's okay." Her daughter was crying so she hugged her tightly. The poor woman was trying to chase away the demons that haunted her daughter, not knowing that she would be the one who will let the real demon hurt her.

The little girl was sobbing in her mother's shoulder and she knew she had done something bad. She opened the door for the darkness to invade her body and her mind. The shadows whispered again and she heard them even over her mother's voice.

"He's coming for you."

"And she's going to abandon you."


	3. Chapter 3

She had become accustomed to their sound, and sometimes even managed to drown them out. She also noticed that the whispers started to listen to her now. If she told them to be silent they would obey, if only for a short period of time. It seemed that more than just whispers followed her now; shadows were near her everywhere she went, watching over her. And unlike the whispers, the shadows could be noticed by other people too. Her mother asked her once how she made the shadow of a glass that was on the table move. She asked how she walks without making a sound and why she stays in the most shadowy corner of the room every time. She grows concerned when she hears her daughter talk and no one else is in the room. But she knows what her daughter is and she isn't afraid because she knows he will come for her soon.

The little girl started to like the shadows, to enjoy playing with them. And she found out there were many ways to use them, from making doors close to helping her get to different parts of the house faster. She learned to slide along them and she could even make them lift her up off the ground. She scared her mother once by doing that then making her turn around to see her at eye level. But most of all, she liked to tie the shadows of two objects together then watch them close the distance between them. She listened to the voices and understood that these whispers resonated from darkness, and not from shadows. She realized that there are two kinds of shadows, the ones through which you could see, the shallow and ephemeral ones and the dark ones, the ones that completely black out any light. Those are the ones that talk. The ones that tell her things a little girl is not supposed to know. They tell her of red skies that block out the sun and creatures with blood stained claws that hunger in the night. Of the man that will come on horse back and claim her, of how her mother will let her go and never see her again. But she doesn't believe them. She knows they're just stories. Or at least she didn't until that night.

She woke up to hear them arguing. She had never heard the voices talking like that, they were always on the same page, but now they were fighting among each other. When she stood up the shadows grew silent, but she heard other voices. These seemed to be live and coming from the other room. She could not make out what they were saying.

She got up and left the room following the sounds. She saw at the end of the hall a door opened ajar and actual people's voices coming from inside. She realized that the voices she had heard in her room were merely the echo carried through the shadows. She came closer and as she did the whispers of the darkness grew louder and more agitated until she was in front of the door. Then the whispers silenced to let her hear the people. She looked inside through the crack and saw her mother sitting in a chair and a caped man circling her like a vulture.

"Don't tell me you've grown fond of the little devil." The man had a hard, rough voice and the little girl watched his eyes move from the fire place to her mother. She saw the look he gave her: cold and hungry.

"She's my daughter." Her mother's voice echoed through the room.

"She's mine."

Her mother looked up into the demon's eyes.

"I know, but maybe you could let her stay with me for a little longer. The girl needs her mother." The man laughed, but it didn't sound like laughter, it was too loud, too abrupt.

"I'm serious, she might not be what you look for."

"Are you telling me what to do, woman?"

"No! No, I … I was just…I'm sorry." She drew breath, trying to find the courage to tell him what she wanted.

"Tell me about her."

"She's growing up quite fast."

"Is she developing her powers?" The man asked quickly, he was not interested in petty things.

"I think so."

"You think so?"

"I saw her making things move, and she can lift herself off he ground."

"So, she's telekinetic?"

"I don't know. I think it has more to do with shadows."

"Shadows?"

"I saw her making the shadows of different objects move. When she's making them float I can see something underneath, almost like their own shadow was carrying them to her."

"Interesting."

"But she has started talking to herself, I don't know why, but I caught her telling people that weren't there to shut up. I even heard her having conversations like this." The woman blurted out this information, almost as if she was trying to let him know her daughter was not well to go with him. She was definitely having second thoughts about their agreement, but she would not deny him. She still loved him after all these years. And she would give him her little girl knowing that one day she would sit beside him, as his queen and her daughter as his most skilled assassin.

"And she's changed."

"How so?"

"Her eyes are getting darker every day, as if these shadows are invading her eyesight. It doesn't seem to be blinding her, though. I sometimes watch her just to see if she can follow objects with her pupils…"

"Anything else?"

"I noticed, before this, ... she has _your_ eyes…" the woman barely whispered. A little detail that she treasured in her daughter because it reminded her of him. He didn't seem fazed by her comment.

"Tonight. I will take her tonight."

"What? Please, just let her stay a little more with me, she's only 8…" Her mother's voice reflected her panic.

"No, I think it's better for her if she were to come with me now."

"But…"

The man glared at her and that was enough to silence her.

The little girl realized they were going to check on her, so she ran back to her room as fast as she could, sliding along the shadows. Without making a sound she threw herself into her bed, covered herself with the blankets and closed her eyes pretending to be asleep. She soon heard footsteps outside her room, and then the door opened. She felt someone put their hands on her chest and she recognized the soft touch of her mother.

"Darling. Wake up, there's someone here to see you."

The little girl blinked a few times and even though there wasn't much light in the room, she saw him clearly. The most striking thing about him was his eyes: a very pale blue, almost gleaming in the dark when he was looking at her. Measuring her. He smiled revealing his sharp teeth.

Her mother lifted her in her arms until she was face to face with him. She gave her daughter to him and he walked out of the room without saying anything more. The woman followed them with her eyes on the floor, feeling completely defeated. The little girl watched her over this man's shoulders until they reached the porch and she realized what was going on. This was the man the shadows were whispering about. She panicked and started crying.

"Oh, Darling don't cry." Her mother said, although there were tears forming in her eyes as well. "Listen to me, this man is going to take you on a little trip, he's going to show you marvelous things and he's going to care for you."

"But I want to stay with you! I don't want to go!"

"Shhh, it's okay." Her mother reached out and grabbed her out of this man's arms. She held her close. The little girl buried her face into her mother's shoulder, crying. She reveled in what little comfort this embrace gave her, but she was scared. The shadows had said things to her, things she did not want to believe, but was afraid were true.

"Darling," her mother said tearing her from her shoulder to look into her only daughter's eyes, "this man is you father, and he's going to take you with him. But don't be frightened, many things await you, a lot of them will be hard to go through, but you will be okay." The woman wiped the tears away from the little girl's cheek. "I will always love you, and you'll always be my daughter. Besides, it's not like we won't see each other again. We'll be apart for just a little while, then we'll be together again. Don't worry." The little girl was still crying, but she didn't know what to do. The voices in the darkness, were agitated, some crying with her, some panicking, but some whispered not to do anything else for it could cost her her mother's life.

The woman handed over her daughter and the man turned away to leave, but she grabbed his arm. She looked into his eyes with new found courage for the first time in the night.

"You _will_ come back for me." It was not a question; she uttered the words almost like a threat. The man paused then smiled and said:

"Of course." Then he looked at the little girl in his arms:

"Don't worry, I'm going to take care of you." She met his gaze and, even though his thirst for power like a wild-fire was mirrored in his eyes, for a moment she believed him.

He mounted his horse and rode into the night, darkness swallowing him and his daughter.

She never saw her mother again, although it's not because she didn't try to find her. The house and the woman living inside of it were never to be seen again. All she found in their place was ashes and shadows.


	4. Chapter 4

She had learned to use her powers, to listen to the wisdom of the darkness, but most of all she learned how to survive. She became cold like the shadows that surrounded her now, their soft embrace greeting her, serving her. It wasn't as comforting as her mother's touch, but it was the only thing she had left.

When she saw the ashes of her home, she abandoned her name. She was no longer that girl, because that girl was dead, so she became Ephemera. Because her life had lasted only a short time and because she now knew that happiness is just for a second, the rest is darkness.

I could hear him calling to me. My family had a meeting and I was supposed to be there as well, but fell late because I had something else to do. Something more important. I decided to attend anyway, only for the sake of appearing like I care.

They were all around the table, my father at the head of the table, where he could observe his progeny.

"Ah, there you are, Ephemera. We were beginning to think you wouldn't show up."

"My apologies father. I did not mean to keep you waiting." My voice and my shadow's voice both speak together. A minor detail I had developed over the years. At first I said one thing and then my shadow would state another, like it suffered from some sort of Tourette Syndrome. But like with most things in my life I learned how to control it. Must not let anyone see or smell any weaknesses.

"Had you been any later we would have given your mission to Zerensky."

I look across the table and my brother gives me an alligator smile. He wants my place. A mediocre dream for a mediocre man.

He sits next to my mongoloid brother, Xerx. The guy looks like a failed experiment, like whoever made Zerensky made him first as some sort of trial. Still, I will give him that out of all my siblings he is the one I fear the most. He is smart, old and most of all, unquestionably loyal to father and to his dream. And because of that, he is, to put it simply, wasted blood.

"We wouldn't want to leave you out of the loop, sister. After all, had it not been for your talents we would have never found the perfect location for our plan." Ah, my dear sister, Ferril. How I loathe to even be near her, her mere existence is an insult. This pathetic misuse of space measures her power in how many punches she can give and how many punches she can take. Maybe some of those blows altered her brain, although I don't know if she had a brain to be altered in the first place.

My shadows speak to me about her. I have learned to trust these voices and to listen to their counsel, for their information always proves to be genuine. They seem to have insight into the lives of my peers far more than I could gather from spying on them. They tell me stories, well, they're not stories anymore because they are real, but these stories range from amusing to freighting. Most of the time, they give me trivial details that apparently have no practical use, still a lot of years with them have taught me that the wisest thing would be to listen. From what I could gather they seem to know the future, the past. And they tell me about Ferril, that she will refuse to die. They tell me about Xerx that death will be the most interesting thing that has ever happened in his life, and that he will take it on as a new subject to be studied. They tell me that Zerensky was a loser, is a loser and will die like a loser. I listen to these voices but do not construct my plans around them. I take pride in knowing that even if they tell me that my brother is no threat I will still be prepared. He is a vampire after all, a Dracula wannabe, but a vampire non-the-less.

They tell me that I will be smothered by the very darkness I sought to control. I could care less. I just said that I do not make my plans around their whispers, and besides I wouldn't mind that, so long as I live to see all of my relatives die.

And my father. They don't murmur, they scream threats from the shadows when it comes to him. It seems that the darkness hates him as much as I do, or maybe it's the projection of my own hate echoing in their voice? They tell me that it's his blood that will kill him in the end. And it's his blood that will destroy his dream, he will live to see it, but not enjoy it. A fitting send-off. I'm guessing it's my blood that they are referring to.

My family. We deserve each other.

...

He is my reason for being late. Severin. I've watched him for a long time, making his existence debunking paranormal phenomena. I watched his show where he would go to different so-called "haunted" locations and prove that they were mere hoaxes. He liked to see that the world works the way he says and that anyone who says otherwise is ignorant and idiot. He enjoyed feeling superior to others, showing that if they wanted to trust "faith" and "magic" over reason and science then they probably weren't as smart or educated as him. I liked what I saw.

I had tried so many times before to find someone worth my blood, but to no avail. After I got bored with them I turned them. I've made quite a large army like that. An army made out of rejects.

But he was different. I could tell. My shadows say he is different as well, but they refused to say more. They said that it wasn't necessary to know more for he will not be with me for long. Then silence. It infuriates me when that happens, when they leave me with questions and I know they have the answers.

I see him going into the house. His crew has already left and he's all alone, almost like he's tempting whatever creatures lurk in the darkness to come out, only so he could slap them and show them that if his world told them they didn't exist then they really didn't exist.

"Excuse me." Poor guy almost jumps out of his shoes. He turns around and looks at me stunned.  
"What are you doing here?" I ask him a rhetoric question for I'm not really interested in his answer, just his reaction.

"I could ask you the same." He came to his senses quickly, good. "Who are you?"

"A…fan. Do you always work on Valentine's Day?"

He raised an eyebrow, but again I was not interested in his answer.

"How do you do that?" He gestured with his chin to my shadows. "Are those holograms? Or are you using different light sources to make the shadows move like that?"

A slight smile crossed my face, I like his inquisitive nature.

"I want to talk to you about your methods and beliefs."

"I don't meant to be rude, but it's late. Do you have any idea how it feels after 12 hours of work straight?"

I didn't answer right away, I was more preoccupied with his stance: a little defensive and just a little scared. I liked that he wasn't frightened of me, though. But I would soon change that.

"Mmm…." I murmured, appearing as if I were thinking.

"Stop if it starts to hurt." A joke, how cute.

I spread my arms and shadows black out any light in the room. I press my lips to his and let darkness overcome us.

I don't know why I took him. I wanted a new soldier, I liked him or maybe I was just bored. Sometimes I look into his eyes and I recognize how he feels from the choices he has left: death or captivity. I though about saying: 'don't worry, I'm going to take care of you'. Only I didn't say that because it's bullshit. I know it is. I fell for a lie like that once.

Or maybe I took him because it was Valentine's Day and I was lonely? No.

She could never admit why she took him. Or that just like her mother she was plagued by loneliness. But she knew that when he had been asleep, she had taken a part of his shadow and tied it to her own. This way if something happened they would find their way back to each other.


End file.
